Prey-size dependency of grazing by free-living marine flagellates

Abstract

Flagellate feeding is only weakly size-selective: clearance rate varies, roughly, in direct proportion to prey radius. Results provide preliminary support of a prey capture model that is based entirely on the interaction of hydrodynamic forces and surface forces arising between free-living marine flagellates and picoplankton-size prey. The extent to which small size provides a refuge from grazing mortality among the picoplankton, and the potential for a significant population of dormant bacteria, is probably less than previously believed. -from Authors